Tag Archives: Wilburn Brothers

Widely acclaimed as one of country music’s greatest warriors, Marty Stuart turned a childhood obsession into a lifelong career filled with hit records and collaborations with numerous Nashville legends. A member of the Country Music Foundation and the Grand Ole Opry, he’s preserved the traditions of the genre by assembling a collection of country-related artifacts that has no rival. His most recent project is The Marty Stuart Show, a weekly television program airing Saturday nights on RFD-TV. Stuart discusses the development of the show, his thoughts on the future of country music and his role in honoring its past.

What was the single driving force behind creating The Marty Stuart Show? What are your hopes for the future of the program?

The most important thing was the right setting, the channel, RFD (a Nashville-based television station focused on rural America programming). I’m a big fan of the network and I’ve watched it grow. As a country music fan, I loved those old syndicated shows—The Porter Wagoner Show, The Johnny Cash Show, The Flatt & Scruggs Show, The Wilburn Brothers Show. I loved the spirit of those shows and started talking to Patrick (Carr, Stuart’s biographer) and really wanted to develop this idea. There was nothing like it on television at the time. Traditional country has so few outlets now. I wanted to give it a voice and show the integrity and entertainment value. You know, you have your Kenny Chesneys and Taylor Swifts, and they’re great for the genre, but this is the absolute other end of the country universe, the real traditional stuff. I’m just trying to present country music as a part of American culture, our heritage.